New Jerseys In New Jersey = New Loss

DC Sports Nexus ---- Friday, December 23, 2011

Washington Capitals 3 , New Jersey Devils 4 (SO)

Once upon a time up in Jersey, YO! Haha. I damn near had to wreck a ho...

The Washington Capitals, wearing their new throwback jerseys for the 2nd time this season, were defeated by the New Jersey Devils in a shootout in Dirty Jersey on Friday night. The game was all NJ for 2 periods as the Devils dominated the first 2 periods scoring 3 goals while the Caps failed to get shots on goal. (13 through 2) However in the third period the Caps came alive with 3 goals on 9 shots to tie the game in the final 2 minutes and picked up the pity point in the standings after a shootout loss.

Neuvy didn't play poorly despite the 3 GAA. He actually kept them in the game.

I heard them [bad word]s in Virginia get smoked a lot...

The first period was brisk (30 minutes) and ended scoreless once again as the Caps failed to take advantage of two Power Plays. Now technically they were Power Plays, but really the Devils looked like they were the team with the advantage spending the PK keeping the puck away from the Caps as well as getting a few nice shots on goal.

Alex Semin did what he did best in the first period. Interference in the O-zone and 2 minutes in the box. Alex should be expecting a lump or 40 of coal in his stocking this Christmas. The Caps took only 6 shots the entire period. Not good.

The Devils went crazy and dominated in the 2nd period. The Caps barely had the puck.

GOAL 1: About 2 1/2 minutes in the Devils were already firing their 6th shot of the period which turned into a Power Play goal for Kovalchuk.

GOAL 2: The Devils 9th shot came just 2 1/2 minutes later and was a nice goal where Urbom broke Neuvirth's ankles to put it in the net in only his 4th game of the season after an AHL callup.

GOAL 3: Shot 11 of the period was another goal for the Devils. Right after the halfway point of the period Henrique put a goal in for the 3-0 lead. At least this time it was 5 minutes of goal free Caps play.

The Caps had a couple chances in the 2nd but Backstrom's shots from a foot away hit the post 2 times. Later in the period a wide open Semin shot went pinging off the top pipe as well. Those are killers, but again the 2nd ended and the Caps only had 7 shots in the period.

As the 3rd period began the Caps were down by 3 goals and were being outshot 23-13. However the Caps got on the scoreboard and ended Marty B's shoutout almost 4 minutes into the session.

Goal 1: Laich hit a nice little deke layup on a great 3 man weave. It was great because I didn't have to look up any Brodeur shutout stats...saved 1 minute of my life.

Goal 2: Later in the period the Devils failed on a 2 on 1 break then hit the post on a shot that should have been a goal. That play transitioned into a Caps goal as Chimera went straight to the goal and just powered it into the net through the goalie pads. Still only 4 shots in the period, but 2/4 ain't bad.

Goal 3: The Caps improbably tied up the game with 1:40 left in the contest. After a Semin shot was rebounded by, Laich, he put a no look pass across the crease to a wide open Chimera for his 2nd goal of the period and a tie game that didn't seem possible just 18 minutes before. 6 big shots after the 2nd goal and the Caps end up with a chance in Overtime.

The OT was intense but the period ended with no goals and the two teams headed into the shootout for the 2nd time out of their 3 matchups this season. The Devils dominated the shootout and Neuvy couldn't stop anything (the 1 Devils miss was a shot that went over the net) and the Caps couldn't put anything in goal (Backstrom & Ovi stuffed) 2-0 Devs.

The Caps have been playing hard lately, but only in certain periods, not a whole game. The Caps play the Devils one more time in March for a chance to tie the series...Next up for the Caps a 7pm Monday night game in Buffalo (that conflicts with Wizards opening night!)

Notes & Questions:

If a player takes a shot and it hits the post, is it a shot in the stats?

Is Locker color blind or is he joking?

Broadcast has a new "Shots on Goal" graphic that blocks the view of the puck and players.

Come on Joe B, where is the "Zajac, no relation to Pat Sajak"

You are allowed to make a hand pass in the D-Zone...interesting new info

1 comment:

A shot in the stats winds up also getting recorded in one of two other places: either as a goal or as a save (in other words if you add up your goals and the opposing goaltender's saves the sum will be your shots). This is why the abbreviation on the stat sheet is "SOG" for "Shots on Goal".Missed shots (including those that hit the post) and blocked shots go into another category called shot attempts that does not typically show up in a basic box score.

The Origins Of This Blog: Prior to this season I had only watched a handful of hockey games. I never really liked watching hockey and I pretty much hated the NHL. Coming in I knew the basics of the game from playing NHL '94 back in the day, but wasn't really aware of how the game really worked. I didn't know half the penalties, I didn't know that a few teams existed or didn't exist, and I was easily frustrated by many things that happened in the NHL. (Icing, Trapezoids, Biscuits, Twigs, Blue Jackets, Plus/Minus, Goons...AHHHH) However, when my beloved NBA was in danger of being locked out for an entire season, that was my cue to force myself to watch something that I previously semi-despised. That brings us to today. I am now a die hard Capitals fan...I now know a bit about hockey...but I still have a long way to go.